Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns the field of the further processing of printed products. The present invention relates to a method for producing collections from a plurality of N (N=2, 3, 4, . . . ) different printed products, the collections each including a stack of printed products which is packed in a packaging element wrapped around the stack. It also relates to a device for performing the method.
Discussion of Related Art
Activities in which advertising pamphlets, brochures, flyers, printed sheets, and the like, which otherwise were often enclosed (inserted) in a newspaper as enclosures for advertising purposes, are collected from several advertisers in order to make a plurality of collections therefrom, which contain a printed product from a plurality of advertisers and are delivered and distributed to the recipients, e.g., households, in the form of a small stack, have long been known under the keyword “direct mailing.”
In order to be able to better handle the individual stack-like collections of printed products during the transport and distribution, it is advantageous to take measures to hold together the individual stacks.
From the prior art, it is known that, if one of the printed products is folded, this printed product can be opened and the remaining printed products can be inserted into the opened printed product. However, the insertion of the printed products requires a considerable amount of equipment, which results in corresponding costs.
But holding the collection of printed products together by placing an adhesive or non-adhesive strip laterally around an edge of the collection is also conceivable. Such a technology is known, for example, from WO 2012/084464 A2 or WO 2012/084494 A2 of the applicant. It requires additional expense because of the provision of the strips.
Furthermore, it has already been suggested to connect the printed products of such a collection to each other by applying adhesive points. An example of this is described in the publication EP 2 465 699 A2 of the applicant. In this case also, the application of the adhesive points means an additional use of material, which leads to additional costs in the case of large quantities.
The same also applies to suggestions according to the publication EP 2 121 451 B1 to wrap the stack of the printed products in a special packaging sheet.
The publication EP 0 671 326 A1, which describes a general method for wrapping covering elements around groups of printed products, states in regard to the type of the covering elements only that a wide variety of covering materials is possible.
A disadvantage of all known methods and devices is that they require specific additional materials, which must be stocked and provided in order to be applied to the collections.